From: Daniel DiGriz <??????????????????????>
Subject: Pipe-smoking in Korea

For those in South Korea, since people have been asking via private email,
may I recommend the Pipe Shop in the Hamilton Shopping Center in Itaewon.
It's quite expensive, but the GBD's and tapered pipe cleaners are
reasonably priced: 40,000w and 6,000w respectively. In Incheon there are
little import-grocers with Captain Black (27,000w cans) on the red brick
area of Pupy'ong and many such in Dong-Inch'on (29,000w cans and 5,000w
pouches). The Hamilton shop is far more expensive on these and other
tobaccos. Shinsaegae Department Stores also carry over-priced pipes and
accessories and BBB tin tobacco (10,000w). Seoul Station no longer has
pipes and tobacco. 

And Dong-Dae-Moon only has poorly-made pipes with problems like off-center
bores to which Grabows (once broken-in) are far superior. These are
available also at Dong-Incheon and elsewhere and are typically stamped
"Toscana", have a poor finish, and are meant to seem Italian, though one
suspects they are made in the Phillipines or elsewhere.

Don't order pipes and tobacco in excess of $100 value via the mail because
they'll be held until one pays an import duty which is quite excessive. The
protectionist laws (And it's not like Korea makes or produces pipes and
pipe tobacco) are quite arcane.

Grabows at the import-grocers are typically double the cost they would be
in the U.S. Occasionally one finds a French or English pipe accidentally at
some counter, and these may or may not have been smoked once or twice and
sold as new. Those are typically about 30,000 won (perhaps $25 US depending
on exchange rates).

The Hamilton shop has no place to sit down and I think smoking inside is
only "winked at" rather than allowed or encouraged. Space is small in Korea
so one cannot expect a relaxing, fully-enclosed pipe shop of the
traditional variety.

Korean traditional pipes are the one-draw metal-bowl variety and are
typically ornamental, though occasionally someone puts a cigarette straight
up in the bowl.

Pipe cleaners are a virtual rarity. Brandy is cheap. Olive oil in different
grades is moderately to highly priced.

-- Daniel DiGriz
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